I have seen this word quite often. In what section/lesson is it explained? And how does the word change depending on gender and case?
Sich
RexV
April 11, 2019
sfpugh
April 12, 2019
Sich is a reflexive pronoun in the accusative.
Here are the accusative reflexive pronouns:
mich - myself
dich - yourself
sich - him/her/its self
uns -ourselves
euch - yourselves
sich - themselves
sich -yourself (polite)
Some of these are the same as direct object pronouns (accusative).
There are a lot of german grammar resources on the internet where you can find this stuff out using google.
For example: https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/grammar/pronouns/reflexive-pronouns
There are also a lot of german resources on youtube.
Here are the accusative reflexive pronouns:
mich - myself
dich - yourself
sich - him/her/its self
uns -ourselves
euch - yourselves
sich - themselves
sich -yourself (polite)
Some of these are the same as direct object pronouns (accusative).
There are a lot of german grammar resources on the internet where you can find this stuff out using google.
For example: https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/grammar/pronouns/reflexive-pronouns
There are also a lot of german resources on youtube.
Liss-Rocket-Languages-Tutor
April 16, 2019
Hallo RexV und sfpugh!
Thank you for your explanations, sfpugh, and for that great resource!
In the page that sfpugh suggested, RexV, there is an excellent table showing reflexive pronouns in the accusative and in the dative (these are the cases in which you will see them used) and some great examples. I may just clarify a little by saying that reflexive verbs are verbs where the action is done back on the subject of the sentence - that is, the person doing the action and the person receiving the action are the same. So for example, the reflexive form of "to wash" is sich waschen, and you would say Ich wasche mich "I was myself." In this case, the reflexive pronoun, mich, is in the accusative.
Just be careful of those (much less common) situations where the reflexive pronoun needs to go into the dative. These reflexive pronouns often come up in situations where there is a direct object that is a part of the speaker (usually parts of the body): Ich wasche mir die Hände "I wash my hands." Most of the time, however, you don't have to worry about the dative form.
There are also verbs that are always reflexive, but the reason why they're reflexive may be less clear, like sich ärgern "to be annoyed." For these types of verbs, you just have to memorize them.
At the moment, you will see reflexive verbs used throughout the course, but a new lesson just on reflexive verbs is in the works, so stay tuned!
Tschüss!
Liss
Thank you for your explanations, sfpugh, and for that great resource!
In the page that sfpugh suggested, RexV, there is an excellent table showing reflexive pronouns in the accusative and in the dative (these are the cases in which you will see them used) and some great examples. I may just clarify a little by saying that reflexive verbs are verbs where the action is done back on the subject of the sentence - that is, the person doing the action and the person receiving the action are the same. So for example, the reflexive form of "to wash" is sich waschen, and you would say Ich wasche mich "I was myself." In this case, the reflexive pronoun, mich, is in the accusative.
Just be careful of those (much less common) situations where the reflexive pronoun needs to go into the dative. These reflexive pronouns often come up in situations where there is a direct object that is a part of the speaker (usually parts of the body): Ich wasche mir die Hände "I wash my hands." Most of the time, however, you don't have to worry about the dative form.
There are also verbs that are always reflexive, but the reason why they're reflexive may be less clear, like sich ärgern "to be annoyed." For these types of verbs, you just have to memorize them.
At the moment, you will see reflexive verbs used throughout the course, but a new lesson just on reflexive verbs is in the works, so stay tuned!
Tschüss!
Liss